


Long Live the Journey

by Silence_burns



Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Banter, F/M, Gen, M/M, Outer Space, Smut, not me, the reader has no specified gender, who needs gender in space
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:34:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27328903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silence_burns/pseuds/Silence_burns
Summary: There are days that go well. And there are also days when a Mandalorian comes knocking on your door with trouble clutched in his arms.
Relationships: Din Djarin & Original Character(s), Din Djarin & Reader, Din Djarin/Reader, Din Djarin/You
Comments: 2
Kudos: 101





	1. Chapter 1

There was a Mandalorian standing in the middle of the street. Even among all the races flowing through the city, he stood out. 

There was a certain aura that usually surrounded his kind, or so claimed the ones who met them. There were not many Mandalorians around. For whatever reasons, they only appeared whenever they had something to do - a purpose, that usually didn’t end well for those included.

It was strange to see a Mandalorian conflicted. Even with his purpose clutched closely to his chest, he seemed unsure of what to do. 

It was even stranger to see a Mandalorian held at a gunpoint. 

You tapped your gun on his helmet. 

“Which one of you is under this shiny stuff?” you asked. There was no point in trying to shoot through Beskar, so you lowered it at the gap at his neck. 

“The one that deserves shooting." 

Mando stood still as a statue, which wasn’t easy with a wriggling package under his arm. He planned to have this meeting somewhere else, and under decidedly different circumstances. 

You smiled at his back. "How lovely. My day just got a lot better." 

"As much as I know I deserve this,” Mando cut sharply. “I need your help. Can we talk somewhere a little more private?" 

"I can dump your body anywhere—" 

A green thing wriggled its way out of his grasp. It had huge eyes that regarded you curiously. Its hand moved to the gun you still held at Mando’s neck. 

You blinked. 

"Did you bring me a frog?" 

The Mandalorian sighed. He sounded like he was doing that a lot lately. "It’s a long story. Can we not have it in the middle of the street?" 

The frog licked your gun. 

”…okay.“

You were far from happy about letting whatever Mando brought roam freely around your house, but there was little choice. It was strange to see the Mandalorian follow the creature, careful of what it came close to. Soon, all the knives and weapons you had put low enough to be reached, went on the table and the shelves. The green goblin didn’t look happy about it. 

The room you occupied was neither big nor pretty, but it was only temporary. The business you had to attend to on that planet was almost done, and soon you’d leave with the comfortable weight of cash. You could’ve rented something better, but you barely stayed there anyway. 

Mando finally took the chair opposite yours. The frog’s attention was wholly occupied by trying to climb a shelf. 

"Since when do you have a pet?” you watched it with moderate interest. 

“It’s a child." 

"Congratulations. It’s got your eyes." 

"Very funny. I… found it on one of my missions. I intend to bring it back to its family." 

"Which is where?" 

”…yeah, about that…" 

A few things finally made sense. 

“Oh no, no, Mando, don’t you even dare,” you cut him off sharply. “Get out of my house. I’m not falling for it again." 

The man didn’t look like he expected to hear any other answer. It was difficult to read him under all the Beskar, but after so many years of knowing him, there was little he could hide.

The frog chirped angrily after failing to reach whatever Mando put on the shelf. You had no idea what race it belonged to. Finding its people was rotten work, you could already smell it. Mando had his moments of luck, but he chose disastrous missions just as often, and dragged you on most of them. 

You looked out of the window. The city was a damp, crowded thing. You missed the planets Mando and you had visited on a few occasions in-between the jobs. He had a fondness of empty grasslands where wind tasted like peace. 

"Do you even have any leads?” you asked with enough resignation to make Mando raise his chin.

“I have a friend I plan to visit. They know a lot.”

“Can’t you offer a price for any information on this ugly-head?”

“No. I’ve already met a few individuals that wanted to take the child for themselves. I think they wanted to experiment on it, probably because members of its race must be so rare. That’s why I need someone to watch my back.”

You closed your eyes. You could feel yourself falling for it again, and there was nothing you could do.

“I have to finish my job first,” you said after a moment of hesitation. “We can leave tomorrow. BUT, if you leave me on some godforsaken planet alone again, I’m going to rip your—”

“That happened one time and was actually hardly my fault!”

“Oh, Mando…,” you took his head into your hands and put your forehead to the helmet. “We’ll have this conversation later, but for now, please take my shoe out of your frog’s mouth before I throw you both out.”


	2. Chapter 2

Walking onto the deck of Mando’s ship brought back a lot of memories. 

It shouldn’t have been much of a surprise given how much time you’d spent there, crammed in that tinfoil wreck of a ship, held together with luck, good wishes, and tape. After some missions - a lot of tape. 

“You’re still faithful to this old tin can,” you muttered, looking at the ripped off hinge to the right that had been broken off years ago (by you, although you never admitted to it). “It shouldn’t surprise me, but it sure is a shame.”

“No one makes ships like this anymore.” Mando closed the deck.

“For a reason.” You gave him a sideway glance he ignored. 

With a child still in his arms, the Mandalorian climbed on the upper deck, leaving you with your sarcasm and a single bag of belongings. 

Good to know he was still as talkative as a tree. 

The ship stirred to life, the engines getting louder. You never traveled with too much luggage. In your line of work, there were moments when you had to quickly disappear off the face of a planet, preferably leaving no trace behind. 

It didn’t take you long to put those few clothes you brought on the shelves, although they were already stuffed full with whatever Mando didn’t really need, but for some reason decided to keep anyway. You weren’t surprised by the vast collection of various mechanical parts, plates and bolts, but to see a little blue blanket, along with a few plush toys was… new.

With a squishy green bug in hand, you walked to the upper deck. The child sitting in Mando’s lap chirped with excitement, reaching out for it. 

“You’ve seen its hands?" 

"I did.” Mando steered the ship off the ground. 

“Do you think it’ll be one of those tree-jumping monkeys when it grows up?" 

"I have no idea. I still don’t know what race it is, let alone where it comes from." 

You sat down in the co-pilot chair. It was empty as always, although it had a few more three-fingered scratches than you remembered. 

You looked at the console as Mando made the final changes to the course and coordinates. 

"You didn’t tell me we were going to Me'eva,” you frowned. 

“I told you I had a friend who could help us." 

"Right, sorry. Of course your friend would live literally on the other side of the galaxy, on its most hideous planet. Silly me.”

“I know you don’t like that planet—" 

"I hate it." 

"—but it’ll be quick. It’s almost uninhabited, and we’ll leave as soon as we can, I promise." 

You were forced to stay quiet as the ship entered space and the force pushed you into your seat. The light breakfast you had a few hours ago suddenly decided it wanted out. Closing your eyes helped a little to fight the nausea. Hearing the child cheer as you entered the stratosphere did not. 

The Mandalorian looked at the vast expanse of the universe in front of the ship. The course was set and there was no going back. In the dark screen of the front window, he could see your faint reflection. 

It’d been years since he last saw you, after that failed mission he could only blame himself for. A part of him wasn’t sure if you’d agree to help him after what happened. He almost expected to find out you left the planet without him, under the cover of night. Yet, here you were, counting the seconds before the warp drive propelled you onto the right course.

"I’m sorry for what happened,” Mando said. “I needed to take the ship with the bounty or it’d get blasted down. I wanted to get back to you as soon as possible, but they chased me off the system and… it took a while." 

"I was freezing my ass off on that icicle of a goddamn planet for a week,” you muttered through gritted teeth, still not opening your eyes. “I had to fight off polar bears and those stupid monkeys with a pocket knife and a blaster that ran out of batteries on the first day." 

"You have every right to be angry." 

"No shit." 

You sighed with relief when the ship got out of the warp. With deep, steadying breaths, you tried to calm your racing heart and revolting stomach. Mando gave you time to consider his words. He was always considerate in that matter and did his best to avoid conflict with those few he cared about. 

Looking over his shoulder, you noticed the child in his lap already asleep, clutching its toy. It was slowly drooling over the Beskar armor, but Mando did nothing to awaken it.

"Do you think we’ll get any good leads?” you asked quietly. 

“I can only hope." 

He saw your reflection nodding. "I’ll get some sleep. How long before we get to Me'eva?" 

"17 hours." 

"Wake me in 8 and we’ll change. You need to catch some sleep too." 

Mando nodded, although you were already gone. The child dozing off on his lap drooled happily over his armor. 

The stars passing by the ship were distant, but warm. 


	3. Chapter 3

You were awake by the time Mando's heavy boots thumped on the short ladder between decks. 

Not to say you couldn't sleep well - the ship was old and loud, but you'd been in worse places. The cramped sleeping cabin looked the same as you remembered it from the few missions you ran with Mando over the years. 

You watched him step down from the ladder, the child and its bug toy in his arms. 

"Has it been 8 hours?" you asked, not moving. 

"10. There was no reason to wake you up." 

"Did you have fun with that green goblin?" 

Mando watched the child walk to the water pods the moment he set it down. The bug was left forgotten by Mando's boots. After a moment of hesitation, he put it into a cradle hovering by the wall. 

"Yes." 

It had always been difficult to figure out most of his emotions. Anger was easy, and so was sadness. But whatever was filling him lately was new, and you still hadn't learnt what it was. 

Mando never held anything against children whenever they approached him on new planets, but neither did he seek them out. Watching Mando now, with a wrinkled whatever-it-was, patient and maybe even caring in his own way was… refreshing. 

"You've changed." 

Mando nodded after a moment. He took off his gloves and worked on his breastplate. "I know what you're thinking. I didn't expect any of this to happen either." 

"And yet you roll with it. You don't even know where to go, but you're willing to cross the galaxy for that frog."

"Children separated from their homes deserve to find them again." 

You watched him put a few of the Beskar plates down. Mandalorians rarely allowed themselves to do so in the presence of others, or at least that's what you gathered from the whispered rumors about their people. Mando had never been too talkative about the customs. 

Sitting up, you moved to the edge of the bed. It was his turn to sleep, but you couldn't bring yourself to leave just yet. 

Mando leaned next to you. 

"I'm glad you're not dead," you admitted at last. "I’d heard about the butchering of your Tribe. Wondered whether you made it out." 

"I've been lucky, in more than one way." 

The memories flooded his mind, and for a moment he could still hear the ringing of the blasters flying overhead, of shouts and curses as the Guild tried to take him down. 

The warmth of your hand in his brought him back to reality. But before he could say anything, you left him in the cabin and moved to the upper deck. 

The child patted his foot. Mando didn't notice it coming. 

"I know," was all he said. 

* * *

"I hate you." 

"I know," was all Mando said half a day and a mild crash later. 

"I should've kept to the other side of the galaxy," you muttered through chattering teeth. Your breath came out in clouds of white in the freezing air. 

The cabin was the only decent place left. The ship was now half buried in an iceberg that had oddly eluded the radar sensors. And even though he kept a calm facade, Mando fuming internally, trying to fix the ship the best he could. He managed to get the system going again, but the huge hole in the side of the ship prevented the temperature from leveling back to normal. The wind howled wildly, dusting white patches of snow throughout the desolate planet, and even Mando couldn't fight the shivers running down his back. He took all you'd need through the night from the lower deck and rushed back into the cabin. 

He opened and closed the door as fast as he could, but you still hissed when a new surge of freezing air came in with him. 

"Sorry." 

"How bad is it?" 

"The water's frozen solid, so I didn't bring any. I got some blankets and food and it'll have to be enough until morning. The sun will blast most of the snow out and we'll be able to move." 

Mando turned to the crib hovering between the seats, but found it empty. A moment of panic blinded him—

"It's here." 

Only then Mando noticed the bundle cradled in your arms, hidden under your jacket. The tip of a long green ear was the only part peeking out. 

"I thought you didn't like the child." 

"Doesn't mean I'll watch it die." 

Mando put down the solid rations. 

"I brought blankets," he said into the silence, disturbed only by the howling wind and his racing heart. 

He wasn't sure why it suddenly got harder to breathe when he crossed the claustrophobic space of the cabin and tucked the blanket over you. Your hands were holding the child, so it was only right for Mando to take care of it. 

He'd been close to you before. This shouldn't be any different. 

And yet, his hands shook slightly when he made sure you would stay warm through the night. He felt the memory of your hand in his. The brush of skin. 

Mando was very glad for his helmet to conceal his face. 

"How far away is your friend?" you asked quietly. The child dozed off, curled on your chest. 

"Shouldn't take us longer than 2 hours on foot. We'll get a new generator in the village too. Maybe even something to patch up that hole, if we're lucky." 

For a minute, the two of you only stared at the storm raging outside. Frost was already climbing its way over the windshield. 

"Good night, Mando. If I freeze to death in my sleep, I'll haunt your ship." 

"I thought you hated my ship." 

"Your radar died two stars ago, you've got a hole blown to one side and some incredibly shoddy patching in the other one. This is a perfect place for a ghost." 

Mando nodded. "I can see your point. Good night." 

The wind howled through the snowy peaks of ice and stone. The ship swayed gently in the relentless storm. 

It didn't take long for the soft sounds of your breath to turn deeper as you fell asleep. The tip of a long green ear didn't move. 

Mando took off his helmet and unpacked one of the rations. His heart hammered, making it pretty obvious no sleep would visit him in the near future, and only partly because of the threat posed by wild fauna of the planet taking interest in the ship. 


	4. Chapter 4

It shouldn't have surprised you to see the low cave-like houses plastered to the side of one of the mountains. It made sense for the interiors to be as small as possible due to the bone-freezing cold during the nights, and the blasting rays of hell during the day. It also made sense for the few inhabitants of that awful planet to have skin adaptable to all the weather changes, however drastic they might be. 

But you had none of that. And you were freezing. 

The child was asleep by the time Mando came back to the only spare room his contact could offer. The cradle hovered near the heating stones which connected to the lava deposits deep underneath the face of the planet. 

Mando closed the door. "I'm not sleeping on the floor." 

"I don't care where you sleep." 

"And that's why you hoarded all the blankets?" his metallic voice couldn't be more sarcastic. 

Another shiver ran down your back. The hard surface of the wooden cot did little to make laying down comfortable. "I took them because I'm freezing and it's all your fault. Why did you agree to stay for the night? We could have made it back to the ship before dawn." 

"G'aar said there was a storm brewing. I didn't want to risk it catching up with us, especially with the new generator weighing us down. He'll help us transport it tomorrow." 

The sound you made was difficult to interpret, but you didn't try to kick Mando off the bed when he sat down, so he took it for a good sign. His earlier confrontation with the bathing tub was as quick as possible due to the temperature, but he still looked at the heap of blankets piled over you with jealousy. 

"Will I get one if I say I'm warm?" 

You chuckled. "Is that a pretext to cuddle like the old times?" 

He instinctively wanted to say no, but Mando hesitated. Things that had been brewing in him for the past couple of days made his throat clench as he asked, "Would you like that?" 

He hated himself for the amount of hope that slipped into his voice, despite the helmet distorting it. Mando knew you noticed. 

"I guess that depends on how warm you actually are," you said, lifting the blanket and raising your eyebrows. A blast of cold air seized the opportunity to freeze your skin. A moment later, Mando accepted your invitation and slid under the covers. You shifted to get comfortable.

The blankets were thick, but the howling wind raging outside made him shiver anyway. Or maybe there was a different reason. 

Mando watched you for a few moments, curled in a tight ball with your back to him. 

"Close your eyes," he said. 

"How else can I sleep…?" 

"Just… Don't open them." 

You growled something quiet under your breath, but didn't protest. You didn't protest when Mando slipped an arm over you either. What made you freeze was a warm breath on your neck. 

"Did you just take off your helmet." 

"Beskar is cold to the touch. You'd bite my head off if I put it anywhere near you." 

"True, but… Ain't that against your rules?" 

"Can you see my face?" 

"No." 

"And it better stay that way." 

That was a new one. Walking on such a thin line when it came to Mandalorian principles was not something you'd expect out of him, but you weren't going to whine - certainly not when you finally stopped shivering thanks to the divine heat pressed to your back. It looked like you'd get through the night without frostbite, which in your very humble opinion was something to be very happy about. 

Wriggling closer to Mando, you quickly discovered you weren't the only one enjoying the situation. 

"Stop that," Mando snapped. His hand shot to your hips, steadying it against what could only be a growing bulge. 

"Why?"

"That's… not on purpose."

"Okay. That's good to know," you shrugged, brushing your hand along his arm.

Before you knew it, both your hands had been pinned over your head and your face pressed into the pillow. With Mando's chest pressed to your back, the rapid beating of his heart could not go unnoticed.

"Are you sure it's not on purpose?" you purred, enjoying the feeling of his toned body, so rarely out of his armor. 

"Would you like it to be?" he asked.

Mando felt you shiver underneath him as his breath rolled over your exposed neck. The skin was so close to his mouth he could almost taste it. 

He did, eliciting a low, throaty moan from you. 

"Careful," he whispered, kissing the shell of your ear. "We wouldn't want to wake up our kind hosts."

Mando kept the grip on your wrists with one hand, and followed your outstretched arms down with the other, raising goosebumps under his touch. Another shiver ran down your back, and you writhed under his weight, putting friction between you. Mando's grip tightened for a moment as the heat rose between his legs and he felt his bones melting with how good it was.

"Come on, Mando," you struggled to free your hands. "I want to have my fun too."

"Your head stays turned that way," he warned you. "That's my only condition."

"Such a shame I won't see the look on your face, though…"

Mando felt your hips grind against his again, urging him closer. He slipped his hand down your side and over your stomach, hooking his fingers under the band of your shorts. Rarely he had a chance to touch so much of your skin, to feel its texture and warmth. Mando took his time, brushing his palm against your stomach, drawing shivers and goosebumps and soft moans out of you, muffled by the pillow. 

He trusted you not to turn around. No matter how things were between the two of you at times, you'd never crossed the lines he had bound himself with, the code he swore to follow and uphold.

Mando tasted the sweat and cheap soap off your skin. It was one of those incredibly rare occasions when he didn't miss his helmet.

He moved his hand between your legs, slipping it under the elastic band. His cold fingers were quick to find the place where you wanted them the most. The pillow swallowed your moan as Mando worked on you with slow, gentle strokes. Your body tensed, the warmth spreading throughout as your pulse picked up the pace. The blood was thrumming in your veins, the muscled body behind you moving along with each shiver running through it… and then it stopped.

A quiet whine escaped you when Mando removed his hand from you, but before you managed to protest further, it went to your hips and tugged your shorts lower. You raised your hips, helping him do it faster. Impatience boiled your blood. 

Mando sighed softly as he pressed his tip against you, already worked up and panting. The noises you made as he pushed deeper rang in his ears in a way that made him grateful you couldn't see his face and the blush coloring it. 

Mando pressed himself closer to your back, burying his face in the crook of your neck. He rolled his hips, pushing in and out of you. His thoughts were entirely focused on how good you felt wrapped tightly around his cock, and how tightly you held his hand. Your nails were digging into his skin, but Mando barely noticed. Holding you so close to his chest, there was no way for him not to hear your quiet words urging him to go deeper.

The bed creaked when he obliged, caring less and less about whether you'd be heard with every minute passing and each time you panted his name, his true name, in a way he'd remember till the end of his days.

Mando's hand covered your eyes as he tilted your head to the side and captured your lips with his, drinking the moan rising in your throat. He held you when you came, and felt every shiver pass through your body. He caught up to you shortly after, his thrusts becoming erratic and fast before he stopped. 

For a few moments, the two of you just laid under the blankets, the chill of the night long gone from your flesh. Mando stroked your arm, catching his breath.

"You deserve that blanket," you said after a while, remembering your previous conversation.

"I appreciate it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this mini-series.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it! You can find more of my work on this AO3 account or on silence-burns.tumblr.com


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